Two Pennsylvania teenagers are facing charges related to a pair of TikTok-inspired stunts that left one dead and another with permanent injuries.
“We have had two criminal investigations involving the dangerous and reckless use of an automobile to create what are known as stunt challenges,” Northampton County District Attorney Stephen Baratta said. “It’s important for the public to understand that these challenges can have severe, real-world consequences, creating significant risk to participants and sometimes the bystanders as well.”
Both incidents occurred in n Bethlehem Township earlier this year, the first in the parking lot of Freedom High School early the morning of June 1. It involved a 17-year-old boy sitting on on top of an upside-down folding table being pulled by rope attached to a vehicle driven by his friend, according to Baratta.
“Unfortunately, the juvenile driver recklessly operated the vehicle at a significant speed such that it whipped the rider sitting on the table into another parked vehicle, resulting in the death of the 17-year-old,” Baratta said.
The victim in that case was identified as David Nagy, 17, FOX 29 Philadelphia reported. The 17-year-old driver was meanwhile charged with involuntary manslaughter charges.
Months earlier, a 19-year-old woman allegedly drove through a parking lot with her 20-year-old friend “surfing” on her trunk. She was thrown from the vehicle and suffered what Baratta called permanent “catastrophic head injuries” during the March incident.
The driver in this case faces counts of aggravated assault, aggravated assault by vehicle and two vehicle code charges, Baratta said.
Neither of the teen drivers being charged has been identified.
